Norman Yakeleya

In dealing with the small business people in the Sahtu, there are figures here that I have that show the income support rates have fallen by 50 percent in Tulita in 2012 and 20 percent in Norman Wells. It’s because of these small business people that hire people in our communities to work because of the oil and gas exploration.

I want to ask the Minister, given these kinds of stats and figures that we have produced by the government, are there opportunities for the business people in the Sahtu so that they can continue to keep their businesses alive, sort of have it on the health respirator so...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In support of the business people in the Sahtu, I want to ask the Minister of ITI, given that we have we have a smorgasbord of business people in the Sahtu, some with the traditional economy, some with the wage economy, and in light of the slowdown of the oil and gas, because that’s been the economic driver for the past couple of years of committing and spending hundreds of millions of dollars in the Sahtu, has this department taken on the task of doing sort of a lessons learned from this type of activity, because we’re hoping that the companies will be coming back but...

Mr. Chair, I just want to make a comment to the Minister. When I met with the Colville Lake leadership and they talked about the Fur Program, they are very pleased. Just before the opening of this Assembly, I contacted Colville Lake and I met some of them in Norman Wells and they are really excited. It was just like Christmastime because the snow was coming and they were getting ready and will be going out to the traplines and setting them up, and they said there’s a lot of excitement in the air. That attests to what the Minister says and what the department is saying about the furs that the...

Long term certainly will address a number of issues in Tulita for the health care facility, the residence accommodations and the proper storage facilities. I got that. I’m really pleased that the Minister is looking at the short-term solutions, working with the Sahtu Health Authority on the nurses residence. It is shoddy. It should be torn down. It should be off the site, really, and same with the storage shed. There’s no floor. It’s just gravel, and on the gravel we have a very expensive piece of health equipment. We had a palliative care bed lying on the ground. If we are to look at the...

The Minister is correct, and I look forward to some of the shelters that may be designated as a safe home maybe in the communities for families to go to. Sometimes these happen at 11 o’clock at night, sometimes two o’clock in the morning, sometimes four o’clock in the morning. These families, out of the goodness of their heart, allow them into their houses because they’re dealing with some family issue or something that’s going on in the family. Some of those could be considered. I mean, I was in Tulita and they were saying that there are a couple of empty houses and that it would be nice to...

Mr. Speaker, I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Thursday, October 23, 2014, it shall be adjourned until Monday, October 27, 2014;

AND FURTHER, that any time prior to October 27, 2014, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister mentioned about a planned conference in the Sahtu, and I would ask the Minister if he would make a commitment, depending on his time availability, to come into the Sahtu and speak to the people in the Sahtu for some level of assurance and confidence, working with the Sahtu people through these troubled times so that we can look forward to better times.

Would the Minister make a commitment, given his time availability, to come to the Sahtu to attend to us and work with us during the conference?

Mr. Speaker, any type of business in the Northwest Territories, there are some very good, hardworking business people, and sometimes it makes it very difficult for them to thrive and have growth in the Northwest Territories. I talk about the various businesses such as here and around the outlying area where we had the outfitters business. Because of the decline of the caribou due to a number of factors related to the mining, to transportation, to hunting of bison, the outfitters came and asked the government to have a look at some kind of consideration to offset it because their business isn’t...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too want to finish off this week with words of encouragement mostly to our small business people in the Northwest Territories, especially to the ones in the Sahtu region.

We have small business owners in Deline who guide people for world-class fishing. We have people in Tulita work in the business to serve the oil and gas sector of the government. We have business people in Colville Lake, where the best furs in Canada are trapped. These young trappers are business people. We also have business people in Fort Good Hope looking after the community through the housing...

There are also other trappers in the North, you know, waiting for the snow to come. I guess they’re in the same situation as Colville Lake.

I just want to ask the Minister if he will give any consideration to the invitation to trappers from Colville Lake to go down to visit an auction type of sale that goes on when they have that event. Thank you.